Needle mechanism for knitting-machines.



H. w. SCOTT.

NEEDLE MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILEDMAR. 9. 191s.

' l 'Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

3L 6.6mm

' lll'l ROBERT W. scorn-OE lBOSTON7 MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To- SCOTT &WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, or CAMDEN, lNEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION or NEWJERSEY.

NEEDLE MEOHANISM FOR KNITTINe-MAGHINES,

' Application filed March 9, i916. :Serial No.,`83,18.5'.

.To4 cllevhom it may concern:

- Be-itknownthat I, ROBERT W., SCOTT, a

citizen of. the UnitedStates, andresidentof Boston, in the countycofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and ,usefulImprovements iny Needle `Mech-v anism' for Knitting-Machines, of which;the

following is a` specification.

. This invention relates vto that class of knitting machineneedles-employing a slidv-ing member in place ofthefusual pivoted and.swinging llatchv for .fthe l purpose of closing the hook of the needleand'casting olf the old stitch .when thenew -loop .is drawn through theold stitch, one object AOf-myfinvention'being to provideia,fsimplefcheap.andeffective needle of this class and coperating devices therefor,adapted j for ma;

chines of fine gage. y. y

The ordinary knitting. machine 4latch needle 'is objectionable forv manyreasons,

among which may be mentioned the v length vof travel Of the needle ;y"the weakening of the same-by vthe latch-receivingslot and thetransverse pivot-pin Openings; the ydelicacy of the latch and its pivotpin; the. wear`` upon the latter; the liability' of the latch to become.brokenor bent, thus rendering the needle inoperative; thelnecessity'for; the

use, in connection I with' the "latch, vof an.` opener therefor, inorder to'insure the clear-A ing of .the hook of thel needle Afor vtheyreception ofthe ,fresh yarn the number of operations 'necessary toproduce the needle, :and`

the consequent cost vof the same.

' that, in machines offsmall diameterthe-use of more than one yarn feedis generally. impracticable. 1

rlhe substitution of `a sliding-hOok-closing member 'for the swinginglatch obvia'tesfthe objections above noted,v` but, 'while-"needles"having such sliding membershave heretofore beenl proposed, *they* havevnotsupplanted the latchneedle because, they have .not been adapted foruse in the fine gage 1 machines now employed for. knitting hosiery andunderwear.

. I am awareo'f certain .attemptsthe prior art to provide a practicableneedle of .Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Apr. j3, 191i 7.

` this class, for instance as'illustrated by my Letters Patent No.1,035,752, datedAugust 13, 1912 [upon which my presentinvention is animprovement] as well asdevices shown l in Letters Patent to others, vbutthe said devices were not wholly satisfactory in all 'situatio'n's. Inthe structure of my Said patent,

of the needle, land either required an additional groove in the camvcarrier member of the knitting machine, which groove 'had to be 1n aplace requiring a design of' thema- Vchine proportions desirable toavoid, or.

necessitated friction devices coperating with a. part' of. the needlegroove, and means for positively actuating the frictionheld vparts attimes, which latter structures necessitated'movin'g the sliding devicewith the needle when the needle wasv abnormally for instance,vthe'sliding'hook-closing member lay upon the -loop-bearing or frontside lifted. I'was not, therefore, able to 'wholly avoid.- enlargingeffect upon the withheld loop due to presence of the Sliding member infront of the needle shank and inthe loop during such'times as it wasdesired to withhold a loopA (as the instep loops during heel knitting)well down on the Shank of theneedie. The other patented devices withwhich I amfamiliar, on the other'hand do not permit such an abnormalposition at all when thekfnitting is of ine gage, the sliding latchmembers ofsaidother devicesnot only being carried vby the, needlewhenever the needle moves beyondthe freedom permitted by a shortfslot inwhich the head-of the hookclosing member can slide, 'but necessarilybeing of ay thickness preventing 'their penetration into -aknit looponly a Ilittle larger than the needle proper.

-f --My present device is particularly designed tolenabletheneedleproper 'to be made as thin and narrow as properrigiditywill permit, while permitting the hook-closing member tobe ofSuchfdimensions and so posiftioned as to permit the needle to stand atan abnormally ,high position without introducing into a loop held on itsShank anything to stretch that loop. v

By reason of the improved capacities. above mentioned, my new-needle isadapted to `be operated in a knitting machine organized to place some ofthe needles out of actionin an abnormally elevated position,

for instance, to placejthe insteprneedles or needles not engagedinheel-and-toe knitting 1 5 Figure 1 is a section through a needle 35,0f the hook e -A @In the 'form illustrated inFigs. 1 and 3,`-

'Oster' aaion in a high position during re! ciprocatory knitting forheel `or toe on'the other needles.

v In thelaccompanying drawings, 'j A rier on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2,illustrating. my new needle and devices adapted to coperate'therewith;

-F g. 2 nassen@ @the uns 22 of Fig.

' 13 1y on an enlarged scale;

. Fig. 3-is a' longitudinal section of the j,needle shown in Fig. -1 onan enlarged scale showing the hook-closing device open;

Fig. iris a. similar` section showing the hook-closing deviceclosed, i IFig. 5 isa view-similar to Fig.3 illustratin section illustrating afurther modication in al' closed and in-an open position; and Fig. 8 isa diagram section illustrating the needle,

the lhook-closing tongue and a knit The needle comprises'a shank1 andop.-

l eratingbutt 2 .of any known or usual con- Y l struction, said shankending in h'ook ."whichmay stand 1n any desiredrelation tothe front`4'line of the shank; for instance. `as 'l shown inFig. lor as shown inFig. 5.

`30 -The shank ispenetrated at a point beneath ythe hook by a slot whichmay bea saw kerf having sloping ends, asv shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5,-ofwhich-the upper end 4'constitutes a cam face substantially directed atthe point `the back of the needle is gr0oved at 5,so as to permit thebottom ofthe grooveto be line with-the slope 4.

40 Coperating. with the needle` proper a slid- Y ing'hoop-closing member6 of spring metal is provided with 'a .spring-tongue 7 which, in -theform illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, is "comprised of. a normallystraight,reduced portion of the member 6. The needle carrier 8v isprovided with the usual needle slots 9, and

with -narrower slots 10,preferably central with respect to the needleslots as shown in Fig.vr 2in which'slots 10 the members 6 are arrangedto ,slide withfriction, `for instance;

having an .impressed bend when free.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, 'the members 6 may` have operating butts 12,each adapted to take into a recess 13 formed in the needle shank 1. Thebutt 12.@sso situated with respect to the recess 13 as to cause thelnormal stitching movement of the needle to advance the tongue 7substantially to`the position with respectto the needle carrierillustrated d in Fig. 1, 4so that when the needle isin a normal ormiddle position, the lpoint oi? the tongue 7. occupies the positionrelative to the needle illustrated'inl Figs.. 1 and 3.' Further downwardmovement of the needle will now cause the'spring tongue 7 to bedisplacedby cause butt 17 to traverse recess 13', and fur- I e 1,221,807` ithecam slope t0 penetrate the slot in the needle shank tothe positionindicated in .Fig-4, at which the needle hook is closed. Furtherdownward movement of the needle car-v will cause the upper end of therecess 13 to 70 encounter the butt 12-of the member 6, the 'parts movintogether until the old loop has hugs the back thereof closely, so thatwhen ythe needle viswlifted-to the abnormal position illustrated indotted lines in Fig. 1, the thin springtongue 8 may standina relation tothe loop a then on the shank of the needle illustrated in Fig. 7, thespring tongue oca Y cupyinga triangular opening normally left Figs. -6and f7 are respectively views partly atthe back of the'needle even Iby aloop knit sotightlya's it is possible to move freely on the shank of theneedle. 85

'In some cases, asillustrated in Fig. 5, the needle need not be reducedat the back so as" to'make the cam wall of the slot in the needle shankstand'beyond the` bottom of groove, the tongue7 in this casebe'ingprovided with 90 an impressed bend 14 seas to find and enter the slotinthe shank.. f

As illustrated `in Figs. .6 and 7, such a hook-closing member maybesomade as to perform the Vdesired functions without causing Ait to be bentforward at each stroke of the needle, `the hook-closing element beingrocked or tilted forward Voir-relative move- `ment of the parts. VAsshown, a thin springe mtal hookfclosing member 15may be re- 100 cessedat 16 to leave an "operating butt 17 adapted to work in the recess 13ofthe shank of a needle 20, athin tongue 18 of the mem-- ber 15 lyingsubstantially lin front` of the shank ofthe member 15 and terminating ina'hook engaging bend 19. The needle is provided with a slot 5 deepenough substantially to.inclose the tongue 18 in the open position shownin Fig. 7. The needle shank is slotted to provide a slope 4 as explainedin connection with Figs. 1 to 5. y

The parts when placed in such a carrier a shown inFigs. 1 .and 2 assumethe relative positions shown in Figs. 6 and 7 at opposite ends' of astroke of the needle 20 sufficient to ther upwardmovement of a needle 20which e. has been adjusted as inFig. 7 may take place, within thedistance measured by the thintongue 18, .without introducing into aloop-held lon the shank of the `needle anyv rthing thicker than theneedle shank. The

needles 1 and 20 are therefore all well adapt'- ed to be placed out ofaction while holdingv their loops with their butts at a relativelyhighilevelwith respect to the needle-carrier r 8 and the knitting cams.e It will be understood that whilethe relative dimensions of the thintongues 7 or 18, and the vfreedom for relative motion pertive distancesbetween the active and im' active paths for the butts 2, and that thespecies shown are illustrative only of the genus of my invention. l

Vhat I claim is: 1

l. rIhe combination with 'a knitting machine needle having a slottedshank grooved at the back and a hook opening on the face thereof, of asliding hook-closing member adapted to slide on the back of said needle,said member having a long narrow tongue normally housed Within saidgroove and adapted to be moved forward and outward by a cam surface onsaid needle throughA said slot and into closing relation to said hook'upon relative movement of said needle and said member in one direction.

2.' A knitting machine needle having a shank ending in a hook opening onone face of the shank, in combination with a member having a relativelylong thin hook-closing tongue movable in a groove on the other face ofthe needle shank, said needle having thereinv an opening having a camend adapted to move said tongue into position to close said hook onrelative movement of said mem.-

whereby the 'needle is adapted to have its f hook end moved to a muchgreater distance than necessary for knitting through a yarn loop on itsshank without introducing into said loop parts tending to enlarge thesame.

3. A knitting machine needle having a slotted shank and a hook openingon one face thereof,` and a sliding hook-closing member adapted to slideon the other or back face of -said needle, vsaid member having a springtongue adapted to be bent by one margin of said slot into closingrelation to said hook upon relative movementofend of said needle,-

said needle and said member in one direction.

4.' In a knitting machine, the combination of a hooked needle having ashank and an opening therein with a carrier having a groove for saidneedle, a groove at the bottom of the needle groove for frictionallylholding a hook-closing member, and a hookclosing lmember in said lattergroove'having 'f a long thin tongue adapted to pass through the openingin the needle shank into closing relation with the needle hook, andmeans permitting movement of said needle relatively With respect to saidmember respectively to effect such passage and closure, and to hold saidtongue parallel with the needle shank and Withdrawn from the hook.

. 5. In a knitting machine, the combination of a needle having a hookand a shank7 having an opening therein near said hook, with a carrierhaving a groove for said needle, a groove at the bottom of the needlegroove for frictionally holding a hook-closing member, and ahook-closing member in said latter groove having a tongue adapted toenter and pass through said opening in the needle v tion with a knittingneedle having .a slot i therein and a hook thereon comprising a shankadapted to be frictionallyheld in a grooved carrier, and a normallyStraight` spring tongue thereon adapted to lie closely against the backof said needle, whereby to enter said slot and close said hook durinrelative movement between said member and said needle.

Signed by me at Boston, AMassachusetts, i I

this 7thV day of March, 1916.

. ROBERT SCOT'I.

